Rescue teams in Nepal are working around the clock to reach workers trapped inside hydropower facilities more than a week after flash floods devastated entire communities in the Himalayas. Last week, a cascade of rocks, mud and water that scientists believe came from a glacier collapse near the Langtang Lirung mountain peak swept away villages, roads, and bridges in Nepal and Tibet. More than 1,270 people have been killed, and more than 4,700 are still missing, authorities said on Thursday.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said 1,252 bodies have been recovered as the total number of missing in the country remained at 4,216. Hundreds of workers are believed to be trapped inside hydropower plants, including some in tunnels, near the country’s border with China. In neighbouring Tibet, Chinese authorities have reported 21 deaths and 541 people missing.
Families of those missing are gathering each morning hoping for news about their loved ones. For many, the wait is excruciating. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated floods and mudflows have left at least 2.2 million tonnes of debris.
In the capital Kathmandu, forensic teams are working to identify bodies. Al Jazeera’s Jessica Washington, reporting from a DNA testing facility in the city, said many of the bodies being found are in a state of decomposition. Dharma Raj Upreti, chief of the NDRRMA, told the news agency that about 20,000 houses would have to be rebuilt, including 7,500 that have been destroyed.
As of Monday, the UN said more than 3,400 displaced people were living in 27 displacement sites in Nuwakot and Rasuwa, mostly in schools. Nepali authorities have pointed to the role of major greenhouse gas emitters that have a “historical responsibility to compensate vulnerable nations like Nepal”, said Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal. He added that the government has officially filed a “formal climate compensation claim letter” to international partners.
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